GOP hopes to avoid trouble in Tampa

House Republicans are officially worried that lawmakers and staffers will stray off the straight-and-narrow path at the GOP convention in Tampa this month.

With the advent of cell phones, anyone can be an opposition tracker, so members should be wary of doing anything questionable in public, Rep. Pete Sessions, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, warned fellow Republicans at a Capitol Hill meeting Wednesday.

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“Let’s say you are going to have a cup of coffee. Perhaps, it’s a late night cup of coffee. Be careful,” the Texas Republican said at a conference committee meeting, according to several sources who attended.

The message was “just be aware that even if you don’t think you are being a dumb a— and you are going to events, it can still look bad,” one Republican lawmaker said of the meeting.

Such worries are nothing new — organizers of the 2004 convention in New York City worried about delegates ending up in some of that city’s seedier establishments, say some who attended the event. Sessions didn’t offer any specifics about what he’s concerned about in Tampa, and his office declined to elaborate.

Other Republicans, however, said they believe party leadership is particularly worried this year — at least in part because of the prevalence of strip clubs in Tampa, highlighted in a recent report in the New York Times.

In addition to Sessions’ warning, some House offices are planning to hold ethics briefings for staffers attending the conventions, according to several GOP aides. Individual offices will remind staffers that their behavior must be in line with their official duties, a GOP aide said.

“There is no doubt you are going to see offices remind people they are representing their office, and so forth,” the staffer said.

Hill aides also expect there to be briefings more broadly on which events are allowable under the Senate and House ethics rules, including if aides must pay the fair market value for tickets.

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele said he wasn’t surprised there were worries.

“People get uptight about that stuff,” Steele said. “The Romney campaign is going to want a convention that is going to be much more reflective of his style.”